Craig Muder: Maddux, Rivera making their pitch for Cooperstown

Craig Muder

Tuesday

Apr 29, 2008 at 12:01 AM

One month into the baseball season, and …

One month into the baseball season, and …

Greg Maddux continues to pitch like its 1995. The Padres’ ageless right-hander is 2-1 with a 3.66 ERA in his first five starts and is one win away from No. 350. With 15 more victories, Maddux will pass Warren Spahn as the all-time wins leader among live-ball era pitchers.

Never spectacular, but mind-numbingly consistent. A fitting successor to Spahn atop the modern wins list.

With apologies to new Hall of Famer Goose Gossage, the greatest closer in history is the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera. A la former NFL star Jerry Rice, Rivera has set the bar so high at his position that no one is ever likely to lay claim to the top spot again. The 38-year-old Sandman has barely been scratched this season and continues to carry the Yankees on his shoulders.

If Rivera can remain healthy, he’ll pass Lee Smith for the No. 2 spot on the saves list this season and close in on leader Trevor Hoffman in 2010. Hoffman, the Padres closer, may end up like Smith: a pitcher with a lot of saves who does not receive recognition in Cooperstown.

But Rivera is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. More than anyone else – even Derek Jeter – he defines this Yankee era.

Check the National League leaders: Larry Wayne Jones, at 36 years old, is hitting over .400. The Braves’ quiet slugger has spent the last few years playing under the national radar, but Chipper is a .300 career hitter who could reach the 500-homer mark by the end of 2010. He’s not a Hall of Famer yet, but Jones’ consistent play suggests he will be.

Let’s say you hit the lottery last November and decided to take a cruise to the Galapagos Islands. Cut off from the world for six months, you return to civilization and – naturally – the first thing you do is check out the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Web site.

A casual look reveals that the Class of 2013 in Cooperstown will feature Craig Biggio and his 3,060 hits; Mike Piazza, the best hitting catcher of all-time; and a couple guys named Bonds and Clemens.

The best class ever, right?

Don’t tell me the steroids scandal doesn’t hit home.

One month into the baseball season … hey, at least my Pirates aren’t eliminated yet.